


Picking Up The Pieces

by chillontheside



Series: Pots and Pans [1]
Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-02
Updated: 2013-10-02
Packaged: 2017-12-28 06:08:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/988623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chillontheside/pseuds/chillontheside
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt and Adam help Sebastian get over his first heartbreak.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Picking Up The Pieces

Their bed is big enough for three, but when, for some reason, there are only two of them in it, it seems too big, too spacious, and they try to take up all the place they can, sprawling across it luxuriously.

Tonight is one of those nights. They fall asleep long before Sebastian comes home, even though Kurt’s been reading, and reading for a good hour, before he’s given up the waiting.

In the morning he is woken up by a light kiss from Adam, who says as he puts Kurt’s coffee mug (stylishly and spotlessly white) on the nightstand, “He is in the study.”

Kurt nods uncertainly, a question in his eyes. Adam shrugs, the same confusion and a touch of fear evident in his tight smile and tense posture. 

After taking shower and dressing, Kurt tiptoes to the study. The door is ajar and he leans in, not having the slightest idea of what he’s going to see.

Sebastian is slumped over the desk, head cushioned on his arms, and he looks absolutely miserable. Kurt dares to do what Adam obviously hasn’t. He returns to the kitchen, makes another cup of coffee and a toast, puts it on a tray (one of those that they use for breakfasts in bed or late night dinners on the couch) and carries it to the study.

He places it on the table and crouches beside Sebastian. Now that he’s closer, he can see disheveled _nervous_ hair that Kurt knows very well: whenever Seb is anxious, he keeps dragging his hands through his hair, over and over again, pulling and tugging -

Kurt reaches out and lays a hand on Sebastian’s shoulder and gently shakes him. 

He springs up and looks around with bleary eyes, “What? Where am -?”

“You fell asleep here,” softly replies Kurt, watching him. And he sees the very moment when realization dawns on Sebastian. 

It’s been so long since Kurt last saw this man closing off, but it’s happening right now: that barely discernible flicker of emotion before he closes his eyes, breathes in and every trace of it disappears from his face.

“Oh,” and that’s the only thing Sebastian says this morning, besides a muttered “good morning” to Adam when he crawls up into the kitchen to bring the tray back.

*

Kurt and Adam are at loss. They don’t know what’s happening and why. Sebastian is detached and by all means being a stranger. The following night he doesn’t join them in bed, again, dozing off on the couch. 

He doesn’t speak, he doesn’t laugh and he’s barely home.

The next afternoon Kurt and Adam find themselves in the living room, seated on the couch and talking. 

It’s been a long time since they did it, talked behind Sebastian’s back about their relationship, their three-people-in-one relationship. When Sebastian wasn’t living with them, they would gather on the couch, keeping space between them to concentrate, and they would spend the whole night discussing, weighing and contemplating. 

It’s not supposed to be this way anymore. The three of them are supposed to be one unit of mutual support and understanding, and the fact that Sebastian is shying away from them hurts. 

Adam speaks out, finally, and it’s that one thing they’ve been avoiding to talk about the whole time, “What if he wants to break it off?” and his voice breaks at the end, the last word comes out hoarsely, barely audible, as if there is not enough air to say it.

Kurt wraps his arms around Adam’s waist and tugs him close. “No, he doesn’t, he - wouldn’t do it like that, he’s - “ but Kurt doesn’t know how to finish this sentence. Because he’s lying, he doesn’t know if Sebastian is not like this.

It’s been and still is an uncharted territory for all of them, and they’ve had to face the consequences of the whole world judging them, yelling at them that it is wrong, and that it’s not _monogamy_ , and that _you fags won’t be saved anyway_.

“What if - what if it’s Derek?” 

And Kurt whips his head around and stares at Adam. He thinks of late nights, of Sebastian’s coming home late, smelling like sex and cigarettes, and Kurt would wrinkle his nose and pretend to be grossed out, but on the inside he would relish that Sebastian has once again chosen to be with them for the night instead of _that dancer_.

Sebastian met Derek a few months ago, in some club where he went with his friends from grad school. They hit it off, hanging out, drinking and _fucking_. And it was alright, at first, because Sebastian still had sex with other people, from time to time, and it was part of their agreement. 

But this time it was different. They saw hearts in Sebastian’s sparkling eyes, noticed his meticulous preparations when he was getting ready to go out and his radiant smile, and they were happy for him, and they admitted it to each other.

What they didn’t talk about was that they were scared that Derek would be the end of the three of them, that Sebastian’s first love, true, sincere love that serves no rational or materialistic purpose and brings him nothing but happiness would steal him away from them.

Kurt was dejected, but he was trying to convince himself that it was for the best: he still had a hard time dealing with the repercussions of being in a relationship with two other people. His worldview and the way he’d imagined his life to be had changed and he still hadn’t fully adapted to it. He made many attempts to assure himself that it would be a welcome change back (and he tried not to think of what it would do to Adam), but his heart clenched every time when the thought of Sebastian’s leaving crossed his mind.

Adam was restless. He busied himself with work, giving the new play he was in all he could, simply for an opportunity to forget his troubles. He did more chores and started to spend more time cooking. He hung out in the library, reading and learning stuff he really didn’t need to. 

Adam knew he loved Sebastian as much as he loved Kurt. But he worried about Kurt not getting it, about hurting Kurt with the strength of his feelings of betrayal and devastation if Sebastian did end up leaving them. But then would he think of everything that Kurt had had to give up for the three of them: he would consider the new Kurt who’d changed so much. And he would realize that Kurt was also in love with Sebastian, only he wasn’t ready to admit it, just yet; and Adam would rather that this realization came to Kurt not suddenly but gradually.

And now that they are talking about the possibility - 

“No, it can’t be about Derek,” Kurt’s tone is sharp and final, like the discussion is over, but he leans into Adam more fully, yearning for tactility.

Adam kisses his head lightly. “I agree, it can’t be. He would tell us,” and he breezes through this lie, whereas Kurt makes an effort to believe it.

*

It is about Derek. 

Kurt gets up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and hears Sebastian’s sobs from where he’s curled up in a ball on the couch. 

He freezes. It’s not the way anyone imagines Sebastian, and it’s a new one for Kurt as well. It hurts more than he’s expected, and he actually doesn’t hesitate to go to Sebastian’s side. It’s so out of Sebastian’s character that he doesn’t even stop to think.

Kurt pads towards him and crouches, again. Sebastian stills when he hears his footsteps, and he obviously tries to calm himself but he can’t, and sharp jerky breaths still burst out from him. 

Kurt sits down, on the couch, just inches away from Sebastian’s legs and lays a hand on his back. 

“What’s wrong?” he whispers.

Sebastian lifts his head and looks at him, really looks at him. His eyes aren’t discernible in the dark, but Kurt feels the intensity of their gaze. The moment of absolute silence follows, interrupted only by cars occasionally whizzing outside. 

Finally, it’s a torrent of thoughts and emotions that flows out of Sebastian’s mouth. 

“He’s been - been cheating on me, Derek, and he - not exactly, he’s been cheating on someone else - _with_ me, they- they’re like serious and gonna get married some- someday - “

Kurt scoots over on the couch and takes Sebastian into his arms, interrupting him. Sebastian’s cried it all out, it seems, because he’s just hiccupping and breathing heavily now. 

For a while Sebastian sits slumped in Kurt’s arms, not lifting his eyes, and Kurt suspects that he’s embarrassed that he’s been caught in such a vulnerable time, and he doesn’t want to face the consequences of it.

Kurt doesn’t have it in him to make Sebastian go through any other unpleasant and uncomfortable experiences, especially now, that he knows what’s going on. _They’ll figure it out tomorrow_ , he thinks.

He holds Sebastian, rubbing soothing circles on his back, until the man sighs and utters the words that must be really hard for him at this point, “Stay with me tonight.”

And Kurt does.

* 

Adam wakes up and the bed next to him is cold. He doesn’t remember the last time it’s been this empty and felt so devastatingly and confusingly enormous. He takes a look at the clock, and it’s not time to wake up, yet, he can get more sleep, in fact, he can use some more sleep, but he gets up, bracing himself.

He doesn’t thinks it’s fair to feel scared or left out, but it’s actually too disconcerting to find out that the two most important men in his life have left his bed (if only for tonight).

After throwing on a t-shirt, he steps in the corridor leading to the living room. 

There is laughter in the kitchen and as he nears it he hears it more distinctly: Kurt’s high-pitched chortling and Sebastian’s deep vibrating chuckles. Adam tiptoes to the room and stands just beside the door frame, watching the two men. 

Kurt hits Sebastian’s hands away from the big pile of pancakes on the plate beside the stove as he also bumps him away with his hip. Adam can’t see but Sebastian seems to be smiling, and it warms his heart. And the fact that it was Kurt who managed to get Sebastian to open up like that - is even better.

He coughs, and the pair whips their heads around to look at him. “Adam!” exclaims Kurt with unconcealed indignation.

And before Adam can comment on the tone, Sebastian explains, sounding as vexed, “You ruined our breakfast-in-bed plan, loser!”

Adam can’t help but laugh out loud joyfully. “You idiots,” he mutters and strolls forward to tug them both into his arms.

They go willingly, and Sebastian’s arm wraps around his waist, and Kurt’s hand is on his back, and it’s nice and warm and _familiar_. 

They part but don’t move too far from each other. Their eyes crinkle, the smiles are happy, and Adam wants to pretend that nothing has happened if it means that they are back to where they were.

Instead though, Sebastian frowns and shifts away, his arm falling helplessly at his side. 

“No-no,” starts Adam hurriedly, “don’t - “

“Do,” says Kurt firmly, and reassuringly kisses Sebastian on the cheek. “We don’t keep secrets from each other.”

And Sebastian tells him: about Derek, about how stupid he’s been ( _no, sweetie, you aren’t, it happens, he’s a total jerk_ ), about how he’s never going to make that mistake again - . 

At the end of Sebastian’s speech, Adam glances at Kurt. He knows he has a plan because no one is more adept at mending broken hearts than Kurt.

* 

They finish that breakfast together, laughing gleefully and talking about everything and nothing.

They watch TV mindlessly, cuddling on the couch. In the afternoon Kurt orders cheesecake from the bakery that he frequents and they feed it to each other and afterwards have mind-blowing sex right in the living room (not that they have never done it, but this time it has a profound meaning; it feels like a reconciliation, a transformation into something stronger and more solid). 

The next week is a lot of of small but meaningful things. They go to see a show, they go to movies after work, meeting in Manhattan, and often finishing those nights with a stroll in Central Park. They talk over the _Derek thing_ (that’s how they’ve come to refer to it) more thoroughly, and Sebastian tells them more than he’s ever done before. He confesses to thinking about moving out and starting with Derek, and he admits that he loved him, but _then_ something amazing happens. 

On Friday Sebastian brings them flowers, for each one their own bouquet. When he hands them over (and they smell divine and are arranged suitable to their tastes and preferences), he utters those long-awaited three important words: “I love you,” to both of them.

Adam grins widely, when Kurt says them back to Sebastian, looking down shyly after glancing briefly at the man. 

For the first time ever, Adam is positive that they just _might_ make it work and live happily ever after.


End file.
